A well written book that, I feel, is more for young people in their teens through their 30’s. It was somewhat interesting to me but my interest in this age group and their experiences does not make me a very good reviewer for the subject. Believe me when I say that if you are a young person in this age group you will be riveted to the story. The author writes this story as though she lived through a lot of the subject matter. The descriptions of the various characters in the story are fantastic. Michelle has molded and told the stories from the heart. Falling in and out of love and many of the reasons that could cause this to occur can be a complex subject, one that can haunt a person all their life if they let a chance for true love leave their life only to wonder if that was a mistake. Then should some kind of disaster enter into a young life, they must learn how to tame the beast that caused that problem. Death, accident, pregnancy, drugs, physical or verbal fighting, hormones, or misunderstandings can change a life forever.
Roshell was raised in a very poor setting, if one can call it actually being “raised”. The story starts when she was gradually finding a good friend or two but afraid to take any of them to her trailer home. At her young age, Roshell was not savvy about boys and sex as well as how to act as she tried to mix in with others at parties. She was very vulnerable and did all she could to mix in with other known girls, most of whom came to these parties with their boyfriend. Some of the boyfriends tried to get interested in Roshell but she wanted no parts of them. Any she did get a slight interest in she would break it off before anything serious could come about. She did accept a prom date with Tim, a senior, even though she was a junior. Tim and Roshell did okay together that night until Roshell spied Gabriel. Gabriel was well known and liked at school. Roshell figured he would have nothing to do with her but eventually they did get together for rare dates.
At a party Roshell made the mistake of taking an offered beer from a guy which led to more beers. She was feeling too good and wasn’t sure of what she was doing. She met this guy, Erin, at the party who she was weary of and tried to avoid. After a few beers she was talked into joining others in the hot tub. After a while Roshell got out and went to a bedroom to change and try to pull herself together. While changing, Erin came into the bedroom, got a bit frisky, and talked Roshell into hugging, kissing, and feeling each other. Roshell knew this was wrong but she was wasted so much that she didn’t know how to get out of this mess. Eventually the inevitable occurred. A short time after that party she found out she was pregnant.
Some time went by with Gabriel and Roshell going opposite directions for different reasons. He didn’t know she had a baby, Marissa, but that didn’t stop him from loving her when he did find that out. They got very serious. All the time Roshell stayed with some of her girl friends from the past and when she had to work, they watched Marissa. Despite Gabriel and Roshell going different ways they eventually got very serious. He loved the baby as though she was his own. You should have a very good idea of this story now and as I said, if you are in your teens through your 30’s you will enjoy this book quite well.